It has approached at least one prominent Internet entrepreneur since at least earlier this year about a possible position, according to these people, who say the details of the possible job were unclear. The company has also discussed its needs with recruiters, one of the people said.

It's part of Apple's plan to expand its web-based applications and services to compete with Microsoft and Google. iCloud is a starting point for all of this, but if Apple wants to remain relevant it's going to take a much more expansive approach to web-based services.

The company has been hiring lower-level employees from Yahoo and Quantcast, according to data on LinkedIn, says the Journal.